Taiwan stocks rose nearly 1 percent on Thursday to their highest in more than 18 months, tracking gains in overseas markets in a relief rally after US President-elect Donald Trump's widely-awaited news briefing yielded little clarity on his future fiscal policies. Gains were also boosted by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), which rose 1.4 percent ahead of its fourth-quarter results scheduled after market hours.
The world's largest contract chipmaker will also issue its outlook for this year. Analysts on average expected December-quarter net profit to come in at T$96.21 billion ($3.04 billion), according to Thomson Reuters Eikon, just shy of the quarterly record of T$96.8 billion reported for the previous three months. The main TAIEX index was up 0.8 percent at 9,417.55 as of 0147 GMT after rising to its highest since late June 2015. It had closed almost flat in the previous session. The electronics subindex rose 0.7 percent, while the financials subindex gained 0.5 percent. The Taiwan dollar was up T$0.185 at T$31.750 per US dollar after rising to its strongest against the US dollar since early December.